Shoe stretcher



Patented Sept. 19, 1939 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 3 Claims.

The present invention consists of a shoe stretcher designed as an improvement on my Patent No. 2,048,794, of July 28, 1936. In my previous patent I employed toggles for use in expanding non-pivotal or rigid stretcher heads, the toggles being engaged with the power shaft. While this was a manifest improvement in the art, I have found that the toggle must necessarily be made small and hence cannot stand the strain imposed thereon in certain classes of work. It is, therefore, the purpose of the present invention to utilize a more substantial expanding means carried by the power shaft and capable of withstanding any amount of strain which can be imposed thereon in a device of this character.

In the drawing I have shown a preferred form of my improvement, wherein Fig. 1 is an elevational view of a shoe stretcher constructed in accordance with the present in vention, the stretcher heads being shown in partly expanded positions and parts of the stretcher being broken away to disclose details,

Fig. 2 is a detail fragmentary sectional view of the stretcher showing one of the stretcher heads in side elevation, looking at the inner side of the stretcher and illustrating the manner of positioning one end of the power shaft between the stretching heads,

Fig. 3 is a transverse sectional view'taken on the line 33 of Fig. 1 looking in the direction of the arrows, showing to advantage the manner of mounting the shaft carried expanding block between the stretching heads and also the manner of mounting the stretching elements in the heads, and

Fig. 4 is a detail fragmentary perspective view of one end of the power shaft showing the expanding block mounted thereon.

In the drawing, a power shaft 5 is shown which is similar in construction to the shaft employed in my previous patent, but provided at one end with an operating handle 6, while the opposite end has detachably mounted thereon an expanding block I, which will be more fully hereinafter described. The upper end ofthe shaft 5, adjacent the handle 6, is provided with screw threads 8 upon which is threaded a bearing block 9, the latter in the present invention being preferably elongated so as to extend downwardly for an ap preciable distance between the upper ends of channel bars Ill. The channel bars I!) are similar in construction to that shown in my previous patent and have stretcher heads fixedly connected to their lower terminals.

Mounted in each channel bar In, within one of ing a device positive in operation, but likewise the heads II, is a wedge block I2, said blocks being arranged in parallel relation, as shown in Fig. 1. The blocks may be shrunken or otherwise secured in the channel bars. The inner tapered faces of the blocks are adapted to be engaged by 5 the complemental terminals I3 of the expansion block 1. Normally the heads II are urged into engagement with each other by suitable means, such for instance as a coil spring Hi, the ends of the latter 10 being detachably engaged in caps l5. The ends of the spring M are housed in parallel openings formed in the heads ll, while the caps l5 are countersunk in the outer walls of the heads, as shown in Fig. 3. 15

In use of the device, when the power shaft is in a retracted position the stretching heads are urged together under the influence of the spring l4. When the power shaft is rotated in a clockwise direction, by the handle 6, the expansion block I is caused to slide across the wedge blocks I2 thereby urging the latter apart and correspondingly expanding the stretching heads I! against the resistance of the spring l4. Since the expansion block 1, wedge blocks l2 are solid and since the channel frame and expansion heads are likewise solid, it is manifest that a solid formation is built up on the line of transverse stress during the stretching operation thereby not only provideliminating possibility of breakage or fracture.

It is understood that various changes may be made Within the scope of the claims hereto appended.

What is claimed is: 35

1. A shoe stretcher including elongated bars, each of which has a stretcher head rigidly secured to one end thereof, and a shaft mounted between said bars and movably connected to the latter at a point remote from the heads, wedge blocks mounted on said bars, within the heads, and an expanding block mounted on the shaft and engageable with the wedge blocks whereby rotation of the shaft, in one direction, expands the heads.

2. A shoe stretcher comprising a pair of elon- 45 gated bars, solid stretcher heads carried by said bars, and rigidly secured thereto, to prevent movement of said heads independently of the bars, and means disposed between the bars to expand and contract the same at their head-equipped ends, said means including wedge blocks engaged with the bars and a shaft rotatably mounted between said bars and connected to said bars at a point remote from the heads and equipped with a block complementing the wedge blocks and engageable with the latter for expanding the stretcher heads, in toto, as a unit.

3. In combination with a power shaft, channel bars and stretching heads the latter secured to the bars and the bars being movably mounted on the power shaft at a point remote from the heads, means for contracting said heads throughout their lengths, and unitary expansion means mounted on said shaft and engageable with the inner walls of said heads to expand the latter, against the resistance of the contracting means, when the power shaft is rotated, in one direction.

VINCENT A. KASIN. 

